A Springtime Wedding in Washington DC

Happy Friday! We have finally made it to the end of the work week, and I hope this gorgeous wedding project makes your day a little brighter. I also share a few tips and tricks at the end that for wedding planning and working with a calligrapher!

This project held a particularly special place in my heart because it was for the wedding of a long lost old friend who I adore. Hannah and I met in our high school theater group, she is a few years younger than I am but we became fast friends. She is full of joy and light and is incredibly talented. I feel very lucky to know her!

I was overjoyed when I heard that she had met the love of her life and was going to have a fabulous Washington DC wedding at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. How amazing is that?! All I can say is that this is a museum that I cannot believe that I haven’t been to yet!

She wanted a little of her hometown, Ann Arbor, MI, infused into her wedding and chose me to be her calligrapher. We started with their invitation which was by Typecase Industries in DC. They sent me their crisp white envelopes with the cutest polka dotted liner - classic with a pop of fun, just like Hannah! Their wedding was black tie, so they wanted the formality of their event to carry through the calligraphy. Their outer envelopes were also large, as they also had an inner envelope, so they really made a statement in the mailbox.

The first thing I do is count up all of the envelopes to make sure they are all there, and then I divide them into piles of inner and outer envelopes, like so:

Can we all just admire my money tree for a second? I haven't killed it yet!

After many hours of calligraphy and proofreading, they turned out like this:

When it came time for place cards, Hannah & Steven came up with such a unique idea that I am so excited to share with you! They bought boxes of Pantone postcards and little plastic stands for them to stand upright in. Each table had it’s own color theme with an original name created by Pantone. The color theme cards became the table numbers, and each table’s place cards were within that theme. Because some colors were dark, we used two inks. Black on all of the lighter colored cards, and gold on the dark ones.

Now, I would be lying if I said this wasn’t challenging! The postcards were glossy, which meant that the ink wanted to ball up on top of it instead of sticking to the paper. But with a little gum arabic and a lot of determination, they turned out better than I could have ever imagined!

I use a laser liner on projects like this to keep the lines nice and straight:

The best part was, I knew several of the guests on the list (including one of our shared high school teachers!) so I got to write familiar names and choose colors that I thought those individuals would love. They handed these beauties straight off to their wedding planner Roberts & Co. Events and didn’t have to stress about setting them up!

Here’s a photo of the final product:

A huge, heartfelt mazel tov to Hannah & Steven! Working with you and your family was lovely, as expected, and I am so excited for you on this next big life adventure. I have loved following your wedding hashtag and seeing all of the joy through the eyes of your friends and family.

What unique place card or escort ideas have you seen? Is there something you’re dying to try? Please share in the comments below, I would love to chat!

And finally, a few tips to leave you with:

The turnaround time has to be very quick on place cards and escort cards since guests lists are always changing close to an event, so make sure you schedule this well in advance with your calligrapher and get them the materials in a timely fashion to avoid a rush fee!

Google Docs makes everyone’s life easier! I LOVE sharing guest lists via Google Docs. It means less emails adding or deleting guests, and live updates that we can both see.

Book a wedding planner! Even if it’s just month/day of coordination, this person will be a lifesaver. You want to enjoy your day and not worry about all of these little details with each of your vendors. This advice is coming from an event planner who hired a wedding planner for my month of coordination. (P.S. I am more than happy to work through your planner! Send them my way!)

Do you have a loved one you think would be inspired by this post? I would love for you to share it with them!